


It's Time You Begun

by LittleUggie



Category: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: All the skeletons, But I felt it had to be done, Crossover, Gratuitous use of puns, I'm really not sure what this is, but pretty damn close, exposition dump, not the crackiest fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 05:48:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9370850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleUggie/pseuds/LittleUggie
Summary: A long time ago…Longer now than it seemsTwo races ruled over the EarthHUMANS and MONSTERSOne day, war broke out between the two racesAfter a long battle, the humans were victoriousThe sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell.In a place you’ve perhaps seen in your dreamsFor the story that is about to unfoldTakes place outside that mountain of oldNow you’ve probably wondered where monsters come fromIf you haven’t, I’d say it’s time you begun.





	

**Author's Note:**

> There is a shameful lack of Nightmare Before Christmas crossovers in the Undertale fandom. This is my attempt to help remedy that. 
> 
> I own NOTHING! Characters, worlds, badly smashed together poetry, NOTHING.

The History of Halloween Town was displayed in a dark and dusty corner of Town Hall. Now, things being dark and dusty was not so much a bad thing in this Town. In fact, most monsters were never happier than when they were living somewhere dark and dusty. However, it did make it rather hard for anyone to read about the history if they so wanted. Not that many did. For the most part the monsters of Halloween Town were a contented people. They did not think too much about the past or the future, beyond plans for the next Halloween. They were happy to go about their lives (or unlives depending) taking things as they come. Only a few monsters pondered much about anything beyond the normal (for them anyway) day to day events. 

Those that did think beyond that tended to be the more ancient monsters, who had no reason to read about the history of the town as they had experienced it once already. There were only a few these monsters left, most of their peers long since turned to dust and they, too prefered not to dwell too much on the past where painful memories lie. 

Sally was a bit of an oddity among monsters, though. She always had been, and while it sometimes still bothered her, she had been feeling more comfortable in her stitches ever since she and Jack had become partners. He was far more forthcoming with praise and encouragement than Finklestein had ever been. He always prompted her to speak her mind and seemed to greatly respect her opinion. Slowly, she was becoming more confident in sharing it. 

But that didn’t mean that they needed to spend all their time together. They were both rather solitary creatures, and sometimes need breathing room (in a matter of speaking since neither actually had to breathe). So while Jack met with the mayor about the plans for this year’s Halloween (only 288 days!), Sally wandered around the Town Hall where she had come upon many dark and dusty corners, but this one promised to hold her attention. 

She squinted through the dirty display case. A banner with jagged script on it read Halloween Town! Founded in 1XXX (the numbers were too smudged to read). Then what looked like a timeline of historically important dates which stopped several decades before her creation. She contemplated asking if she could update it since The Great Xmas Disaster (which is what she privately called it in her head) two years prior certainly seemed to be an event of some importance, but she decided against it for now. Jack could get a bit odd whenever that was mentioned. Something in the area of embarrassed yet nostalgic. She scanned over the list until she got to some of the older dates, which reached back centuries. Two that stood out to her read The Defeat and The Great Loss. They coincided with each other in the same year. She puzzled over what those two events could be, looking at the rest of the for clues when she heard Jack and the Mayor’s voices coming down the hall. 

Later that night, she and Jack took a walk to “their spot” on top of Coiled Hill. They sat for a while in comfortable silence, watching Zero chase fireflies, when she brought up the display. 

“Oh, I had completely forgotten that was even there, we should probably update it at some point.”

“I don’t even know what some of the events listed on it are.”

“That’s not surprising, not many people round here tend to think much about the past.” 

Or at all, he didn’t say because he was trying to be less bitter. Being around Sally helped that creeping sense of ennui and despair that came upon him that led him to do things like kidnap someone and steal their holiday. She found joy and curiosity in so much that he could not help but see the world in a new and interesting way when they were together, and her level headedness kept his more counterproductive impulses in check. 

Sally picked at some loose stitches on her dress. “Jack,” she asked, “how old are you?” 

He had to think for a moment, he had long since stopped keeping track of the years. 

“I’m not completely sure.”

“Older than the town?”

“No, not quite that old. I came into being not too long after the Town was founded, though. It wasn’t yet called Halloween Town even. Just The Town. The King at that time wasn’t very good at naming things.”

“Why did it change to Halloween Town?”

Jack was quiet for a long time, lost in the memories of the past. Sally waited patiently, looking at his skull gleaming white in the light of the full moon. 

“It’s a long story.” He finally answered.

“I don’t mind long stories, but you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s fine. It has just been a long time since I even thought about it.”

He fell silent again, but this time there was an air of expectancy as he gathered his thoughts.

“Monsters and humans both lived all over the world, intermingling with each other. Of course there was some conflict as there always is when sentient beings live in close contact, but for the most part it was peaceful and we learned from each other. But as time went on things changed. Humans grew in numbers and started to turn on monsters. As prejudice grew against monsters, some thought it best to find a place free of humans where we could live in safety. Not everyone agreed, but there was a large enough faction to find this place and set up a magical boundary to keep humans out. Any monster can pass through either to come or to leave, it was never the founders’ goal to trap anyone, just to keep them safe and hidden. But humans would have a very hard time finding this place. 

While I was studying the ring of doors, I found evidence to suggest that they were all created by groups of monsters that broke off to form their own communities, but we seem to have retained the greatest numbers. 

The magical boundary they set up was a vastly complicated spell, though, and it is closely tied to the cycles of the earth. During the autumn is when the barrier is thinnest, and it is easier for humans to find their way here. So the residents of The Town would take to going out and scaring any humans who came too close to the boundary. The humans would take to leaving offerings for the monsters to keep them from scaring them. Sometimes they would dress up as monsters themselves, hoping to fool the real ones into leaving them alone. Eventually the historical reasons for this tradition were lost and it evolved into the celebration we have now. I’m not sure exactly when we changed the name, it was probably not long after…”

Jack trailed off. 

“Not long after what?” Sally asked, fascinated by his story. How was it she knew so little about the place she lived?

“The war.” He hesitated, but pressed on, his voice heavier than before.  
“You see, the prejudice against monsters eventually turned to violence just as the founders feared. War broke out between the two races. The Town served as a haven to those wishing not to fight, and occasionally as a hideout for the monster forces. But eventually, the humans overwhelmed the monster armies. After being defeated, all the monsters that remained out in the world were rounded up and sealed under a great barrier by human mages. We who managed to escape this fate called the event The Great Loss. Many friends and family members were lost-”

He cut himself off again, turning his face away from her. She caught a glimpse of sorrow twist the features of his skull. 

“But that was long, long ago. When enough time had passed for the humans to relax their guard, some brave SOULS went to inspect the barrier, but it was too strong for them to break. Now there is barely anyone left who even remembers that there were other monsters. I don’t think even the humans remember monsters as anything other than the scary Halloween creatures.” 

Sally sat, staring up at the moon as she digested this information. Hesitantly, she asked, “Who did you lose in The Great Loss?”

Jack was silent for so long she didn’t think he was going to answer. Finally, he answered in a voice just above a whisper, “My brother.”

She gently reached over and clasped his boney hand in her soft cloth one. He grasped it and they sat that way until the glowing pumpkin sun started to rise above the skeletal trees.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed your exposition dump! For inquiring minds, this scene takes place in 1995, two years after the movie was released. This was done so I could start the next chapter with '20 years later', bringing it up to 2015 when Undertale was released. Haha, I'm a genius. Who knows how time works. 
> 
>  
> 
> I have a tumblr that I repost stuff on when I don't forget about its existence. http://littleuggy.tumblr.com/
> 
> Not beta read, or even given cursory editing. So hey, if you see a mistake let me know.


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